Singapore Airlines’ first Airbus A350-900 has arrived in Singapore from the Airbus Delivery Centre in Toulouse. The aircraft’s arrival was celebrated in grandeur with a spectacular water cannon salute and a ceremony.

“The A350 is a key element in our overall capacity growth and fleet renewal strategy. It's improved operating efficiency offers us the opportunity to open up even more new routes, providing more travel options to our customers,” Singapore Airlines CEO, Mr Goh Choon Phong, said at the ceremony.

“With its arrival, Singapore Airlines is staying true to our long-standing commitment to maintain a young and modern fleet of aircraft. The A350 will ultimately enable us to help further enhance the three main pillars of the Singapore Airlines brand promise: service excellence, product leadership and network connectivity.”

SIA's A350-900 comes equipped with 253 seats in three classes - 42 in business class, 24 in premium economy and 187 in economy. But this configuration will change when SIA welcomes the A350s it plans to use on medium-range flights as well as those it will deploy on the ultra long-range routes. The A350 features higher ceilings than similar aircraft, as well as larger windows and lighting designed to reduce jet lag.

The aircraft will initially be deployed initially on commercial services within Asia for crew training purposes before its start of long-haul services to Amsterdam on 9 May 2016. The A350 will also be used to launch SIA's new Singapore-Düsseldorf route which is scheduled to commence in July 2016.

The ultra-long-range version of the A350, known as the A350-900ULR, will join SIA's fleet in 2018 and will be deployed on routes from Singapore to New York, Los Angeles and a third destination in the US.More A350 destinations will be announced through the course of this year.

As well as the 67 A350s, SIA has outstanding orders for 30 Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner aircraft, as it bids to modernise its long-haul fleet.